Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

Every confession of sin is an act of faith. It is a fruit of the holiness of Christ working in your life. In fact, it is bright evidence of your sainthood, it is part of God’s sanctifying work in you.

The wonder of the Gospel is that it makes you truly human. Because of the fall, man is rendered dead. The Gospel doesn’t liberate your soul from the prison of the body. Rather, the Gospel brings you truly to life. The Word we preach is life to the body, health to the soul, vitality to the spirit.

INTRODUCTIONThe entire sacrificial system of the Old Covenant pictures the many facets of our sin and God’s promise of forgiveness and cleansing, but the Sin Offering is perhaps the sacrifice that underlines this point the clearest. And perhaps what many Christians miss is the fact that God cannot dwell with a people who are forgiven and clean. The holiness of God burns against all evil and sin, and when sin accumulates in a land, so does His wrath, unless justice is done.THE TEXT“Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the sons of Israel saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them…” (Lev. 4:1-35).SUMMARY OF THE TEXTThe Sin Offering is presented for anyone who sins unintentionally in anything that God has commanded must not be done (4:2). The Sin Offering is presented for four scenarios: the anointed priest (4:3-12), the whole congregation (4:13-21), a tribal leader (4:22-26), and any other Israelite (4:27-35). The Sin Offering reminds us of elements of the Ascension and Peace Offerings: the worshiper brings the animal to the door of the tabernacle, he lays his hand on the head of the animal and kills it, and the fat of the entrails is put on the altar and goes up in smoke to the Lord (4:4, 8-10, 15, 24, 26, 29, 31, 33, 35). However, there are two unique elements of this offering: first, the sprinkling of blood in the Holy Place for the High Priest and congregation and putting blood on the horns of the altar (4:6-7, 16-18, 25, 30, 34), and second, when the Sin Offering blood is brought inside the Holy Place, they are to burn the hide, the flesh, and the head and legs outside the camp (4:11-12, 21, cf. 6:24-30).UNINTENTIONAL SINThe word used to describe “unintentional” sin is used elsewhere to describe the difference between this and “defiant” or “high-handed” or “presumptuous” sin (Num. 15:27-31). A famous example of this is when Israel goes up to fight the Amalekites in the Promised Land after the 10 spies bring back the bad report. Israel was warned not to go, but they went up anyway and were defeated (Num. 14:40-45, Dt. 1:41-44). A similar contrast is at work in descriptions of accidental murder versus premeditated (Num. 35:9-34). But there seems to be a sense in which all sin is considered “unintentional” if the perpetrator ultimately repents. “… even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief… It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:13, 15).MAKE ATONEMENTWhat the Sin Offering teaches is that sin not only brings guilt, but it also pollutes the land and the tabernacle (Lev. 15:31, Num. 19:13). On the Day of Atonement, once a year, the High Priest sprinkled blood from a Sin Offering inside the curtain on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant to cleanse the sins of the people (Lev. 16:15-19, 30, cf. 14:52, 1 Jn. 1:7). Therefore, the blood of the Sin Offering sprinkled in the Holy Place and wiped on the horns of the altar is for cleansing. “Atonement” literally means “covering.” In the New Testament, the Greek equivalent is often translated “propitiation,” which means turning away wrath (Rom. 3:25, Heb. 2:17, 1 Jn. 2:2, 4:10). The wages of sin is death, but sin also defiles. We need to be forgiven and cleansed. And atonement does both. Because of the holiness of God in the midst of His people, their sin collects on Him and His tent. So that is what must be cleansed. All of this foreshadows when God sent His only Son to “tabernacle” among us (Jn. 1:14) to take our sin judicially upon Himself and to bleed and die to make us (and our land) clean. We are the unclean ones, and it should be our blood, but the Clean One bled to make us clean.CONCLUSION: GO TO HIM OUTSIDE THE CAMPHebrews describes the Sin Offering for the congregation: “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:11-13). To follow Jesus is to be reckoned unclean by the world, but it is the only way to be truly clean in the sight of God.“What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:3-4). The blood of bulls and goats could not actually take away sin, but that blood was a promise of the blood of Christ which was to come. That Sin Offering makes us bold. There is now no condemnation.

INTRODUCTIONWe are now at the beginning of the last cycle of Micah’s prophecy. Remember that the pattern is one of warning, judgment, and consolation. We see in this section the testimony of Jehovah, in which He sets out the reasons for the judgment coming down upon Judah and Israel. It is a fearsome judgment indeed.THE TEXT“Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, And ye strong foundations of the earth: For the Lord hath a controversy with his people, And he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me . . .” (Micah 6:1–16).SUMMARY OF THE TEXTThe prophet has been speaking to a senseless people, and so now Jehovah has told them to go preach to the rocks instead (v. 1). Even the stones of the mountains will listen better than Judea and Israel did, and they will sit in the jury box, as the Lord lays out His case against His people (v. 2). God, speaking in a figure, as though He could fit inside a courtroom, asks them to testify as to what wrong He has committed against them (v. 3). Jehovah plays at defendant.God redeemed them from the slavery of Egypt, and gave them Moses, Aaron and Miriam as leaders (v. 4). He then prevented Balaam from cursing them, as Balak wanted him to (v. 5). Speaking for the people, he asks about what they might think to bring to God—burnt offerings, rams, rivers of oil? Perhaps their own firstborn (vv. 6-7)? No—it is much more straightforward than that. Do justice, love mercy, and walk in humility before God (v. 8).Jehovah cries out to the city, and a wise man knows where the rod is coming from (v. 9). Do not the wicked have a great treasury, filled with the profits gained with a short measure and crooked scales (vv. 10-11)? Her rich men are full of violence, and the people have a mouthful of lies (v. 12). And this is why God will strike them (v. 13). They will eat, but not be filled (v. 14). What they manage to salvage out of the wreckage will be taken from them later (v. 14). They will also experience true vanity in their agriculture (v. 15). And why? Because they decided to follow the doctrines of Omri (Ahab’s father) and Ahab they will be left desolate, and will be reproached with hissing (v. 16).HYPOCRISY GAMESWhen Micah brings his testimony, the hypocrites who listen to him are pretending to engage. Jehovah says that rocks would listen better than they do, and yet they try to prove Him wrong by making a show through religious bustling. What shall we offer to God that will prove our devotion? Rivers of oil? Our own first born? No. God wants you, and not some sacrifice swapped in instead of you. That is an extortion payment, not religious worship.Hypocrites behave as though the God of Heaven is petty and simple, like some cranky toddler in a stroller, and that it is somehow possible to distract Him with baubles and trifles. Here, play with this, they seem to say.No. God wants the heart. He has always wanted the heart. He has never settled for anything less than your heart. Rend your hearts, not your garments (Joel 2:13). Circumcise your hearts (Jer. 4:4). To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22). Sacrifices and burnt offerings you did not require (Ps. 40:6). Go and find out what this means, Jesus said (Matt. 9:13). I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6).GRASPING MERCHANTSHypocrites love paint their sins with the whitewash of religious scrupulosity. But two inches of white snow on a dunghill is a dunghill still, and you shouldn’t try to sled on it.What particular sin is in view in this passage? There were numerous sins, no doubt, but what sins are in view here. The problem here was dishonesty in business. When the rod comes to give these hustlers their beat down, the wise man knows the reason for it (v. 9). Was it not their short measure (v. 10)? Wicked scales and deceitful weights (v. 11)? When they open their mouths, lies come fluttering out, like hundreds of moths (v. 12). That is why God is striking them, making them desolate (v. 13).HE HATH SHOWN THEEWhat does God actually want from us? There are three verbs—do, love, and walk (v. 8). Do justly. Love mercy. Walk with humility before your God.When you make a judgment, it must be an honest assessment, not a partisan decision. It is not enough to do mercy, grudgingly dragged out of you. No, you must love mercy (hesed). It is this pairing, incidentally, that gives the lie to so many today who are trumpeting what they call “social justice.” It is not justice at all because biblical justice loves mercy, and those commies are merciless—without pity, without forgiveness, without tenderness, without compassion. In short, without Christ.The third characteristic of this godly demeanor is that of walking humbly with God. God is the absolute ground of all goodness, all value, and so we must submit to Him. We must submit to His definition of justice. We must embrace His sacrificial commitment to mercy. We must submit to the God who is the ground of all objective truth, goodness, and beauty.And this means Christ. Who displays the justice of God? Christ on the cross, wracked with pain because of His Father’s hatred of sin. Who displays the mercy of God? Christ on the cross, embracing our sin and folly so that He could carry it all down the grave. Who displays the humility of God? Christ on the cross, who summons us to take up our cross and follow Him. If we do follow Him in this way, we can be assured that we will do justly, love mercy, and walk with humility. And unlike the religious liars and thieves of ancient Judea and Israel, we will not try to bribe God to look the other way because we put on some sort of a religious show.

Enjoy message 4 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID.The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy message 6 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID. Messages from our men's and women's pre-conferences seminars will be released in the near future, so stay tuned!The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy message 1 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID.The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy message 2 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID.The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy message 3 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID.The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.

Enjoy message 5 of 6 from Grace Agenda 2021 Main Conference in Moscow, ID.The last several years Christ Church has tried an experiment in grace and has not charged for the Grace Agenda conference. In keeping with this spirit of grace, we are accepting free will donations at https://www.graceagenda.com/donate.